...the riveting tales of a pediatrician's wife and herd of small children living in the Deep South.

Friday, November 8, 2013

The End of An Era...Weaning.

Asher has decided he is done with nursing.

And no amount of forcing him over the past 48 hours has done anything except exhaust me and make him incredibly irate. So I have decided to let it go.

Of course I shouldn't be shocked - Cole decided he was done at 11 months and Vera was *almost* 10 months. For the first two kids I cursed myself for not being able to MAKE them nurse up through a year, or even longer, but there wasn't much that could be done and forcing a kid is dumb (I'm pretty dumb most days). But for Asher, I feel especially bad as his sudden decision comes on the heels of us coming back from our first *longer* trip without bringing him along...bring on the mommy guilt.

Of course Asher has never really been a fan of breastfeeding. He was run through the gamut with all sorts of tests and exams, trying to rule out physical abnormalities that might be the cause of his very strange reflux-like symptoms. It was scary to watch a newborn dry heave every hour or two for the first 4 months of their life...especially when no one could give us a solid reason as to why. Even Jake, who remains blasé about 99% of his life, was slightly concerned as he still has yet to see a case similar to Asher's.

Fast forward to today and he is an incredibly happy 9.5 month old who, although *tiny*, has a HUGE grin plastered on his face for much of each day. His appetite is fairly small and comes and goes...and heaven help someone who tries to force-feed the dude, but Asher is our sweet little charmer.